Path to Growth: Conversations with Leaders on Go-To-Market

Tracy Young

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Path to Growth: Conversations with Leaders on Go-To-Market

Every great leader has a story to tell. TigerEye’s Path to Growth podcast is where leaders in B2B sales, marketing and customer success share their story. Each episode is a thirty minute masterclass in GTM covering leadership, strategy and growth in challenging markets.

OCT 31

Caroline McCloskey | Leading Through Crisis

Summary: In this episode, Tracy speaks with Caroline McCloskey, a seasoned go-to-market leader, currently working with startups at OpenAI. Caroline shares her unique career journey, leadership lessons, and practical advice on scaling, hiring, and navigating the tech world’s complexities. Her experience across companies like AWS, LinkedIn, and WeWork provides invaluable lessons for startups and leaders at any stage. Key Topics Covered: 1. Career Influences Caroline reflects on how her parents’ careers influenced her path – her mother’s drive for learning and travel and her father’s career in law – shaping her broad skillset and interest in leadership. 2. Early Career and Growth in International Sales Caroline shares her formative experience in LinkedIn’s leadership program and her evolution as a generalist, which helped her build versatile skills in various roles and industries. Her experience setting up sales teams in Mexico and Brazil at WeWork highlights the challenges and rewards of scaling in diverse cultural contexts. 3. Lessons in Hypergrowth and Hiring Caroline discusses the rapid growth challenges at WeWork, particularly the complexities of building and scaling teams quickly. She talks about the struggles and lessons learned from the necessity to downsize after aggressive scaling and stresses the importance of paced, thoughtful hiring. 4. Building Culture and Team Alignment With real examples, Caroline emphasizes the role of transparent communication and community in aligning sales, marketing, and product teams. She credits a former manager for showing her the value of regular, inclusive team meetings to create a sense of belonging and shared purpose. 5. Managing in a Crisis Caroline recounts the turmoil during WeWork’s failed IPO, noting the importance of remaining calm as a leader. She describes how a leader’s demeanor mirrors through the team and the responsibility to shield them from unnecessary stress while maintaining morale. 6. Metrics and Go-To-Market Essentials Caroline shares her favorite GTM metrics, though she emphasizes that KPIs should be tailored to each company’s specific needs. From her perspective, productivity metrics and pipeline structure are crucial for junior sales teams to build strong foundations in their roles. 7. Advice for Startups Implementing AI Caroline advises startups implementing LLMs to consider a long-term view. She warns against AI as an afterthought and encourages businesses to anticipate future advancements in AI technology to ensure sustainable product value. 8. Networking and Career Development For early-career professionals, Caroline recommends prioritizing relationships over resume submissions. Building genuine connections can be a key to unlocking future job opportunities and forming long-term mentorships and partnerships. Final Thoughts: Caroline’s journey offers inspiration and practical insights into building resilient teams and effective GTM strategies in a high-growth environment. Whether you’re a startup founder or a young professional, her emphasis on relationship-building and adaptability provides essential takeaways for anyone navigating a rapidly evolving tech landscape. This episode is perfect for fo...

36 min
OCT 8

Anastasiia Binns | RevOps with Empathy

Tracy Young sits down with Anastasiia Binns, Head of Revenue Operations at Semble, a patient management system for private healthcare providers in the UK. They discuss Anastasiia’s unique journey from a background in social anthropology to becoming a leader in Revenue Operations (RevOps). The conversation covers critical topics like balancing operational efficiency with empathy, transitioning roles within a company, and building RevOps functions from scratch. Key Highlights: Anastasiia’s Unique Path: Anastasiia shares how her degree in social anthropology shaped her open-minded approach in RevOps, especially regarding cultural relativism and understanding how different departments or companies operate within their own context. RevOps Foundations: Anastasiia outlines her process for establishing RevOps functions, focusing on three key pillars: Operational Efficiency: Ensuring processes, tools, and KPIs are well-organized. Disaster Readiness: Preparing for worst-case scenarios and ensuring continuity. Strategic Growth: Making incremental improvements after laying the groundwork. Challenges in RevOps: Anastasiia discusses one of her toughest projects: managing 12 different CRM systems within a large organization, which she streamlined by implementing a simple, yet effective SharePoint system. Tech Bloat and Lean RevOps: The discussion dives into tech bloat, how startups can quickly accumulate unnecessary tools, and Anastasiia’s advice to approach tech purchasing as if it’s coming out of your own wallet. She also talks about keeping RevOps simple and lean by focusing on MVP solutions before adding complexity. Advice for Aspiring Leaders: Anastasiia emphasizes the importance of standing up for what you believe is right in the workplace, even if it means challenging the status quo. She also offers practical advice for handling crises, such as staying calm under pressure and leading by example.

32 min
SEP 24

Tracy Lawrence | From Founder to Executive Coach

In this episode of Path to Growth, Tracy Young interviews Tracy Lawrence, the former co-founder and CEO of Chewse, who now works as an executive coach. Lawrence shares her entrepreneurial journey, which began with her love for food and her hometown of LA, and the personal growth that came with scaling a venture-backed business. She emphasizes the importance of inner work, vulnerability, and authenticity in leadership, revealing how personal experiences shaped her leadership style and the culture at Chewse. Now, as a coach, she helps leaders focus on self-awareness and healing to become more effective in both their personal and professional lives.

47 min
AUG 20

Brett Keirstead | Navigating the Future of Sales

Tracy interviews Brett Keirstead, Chief Sales Officer at Chief Outsiders. discussing Brett’s personal background, sales leadership strategies, and the evolving nature of sales, especially post-pandemic. Brett shares insights on the value of fractional sales leadership, the importance of setting realistic sales quotas, and the need for cultural fit in hiring. He also highlights the relevance of business acumen in sales roles and discusses his book, “We Are All Sales People,” which connects sales skills with life skills, particularly in enhancing communication and relationships.

34 min
JUL 24

Robin Daniels | Embracing Growth

In the latest episode of “Path to Growth,” Tracy interviews Robin Daniels, the Chief Business and Product Officer at Zensai. Robin shares his personal journey of growth and resilience, deeply influenced by his father’s struggles and untimely passing. He recounts how this experience led him and his brother to adopt a “yes to life” philosophy, driving them to embrace new experiences and live life with passion and courage. Robin also delves into his professional journey, highlighting his role at Zensai, a company dedicated to empowering employees through continuous learning, performance management, and engagement. He discusses the critical role of AI in personalizing learning experiences and optimizing organizational performance. Robin and Tracy also explore the evolving landscape of HR technology and marketing strategies. Robin emphasizes the importance of bold storytelling and community-based marketing to build strong, loyal customer bases. He contrasts the conservative go-to-market approaches of European startups with the bold, aggressive strategies often seen in Silicon Valley, advocating for a blend of both. Additionally, Robin offers valuable advice for those early in their careers, underscoring the significance of showing up with passion and taking initiative.

41 min
JUN 26

Holly Liu, Co-founder Kabam | The Art of the Pivot

This week tracy sat down with Holly Liu, co-founder of Kabam. Holly shared insights into her background, discussing her upbringing in Palmdale, California, and her journey through identity as one of the few Asian kids in her town. She recounted her path to founding Kabam, which began as a corporate social networking company before pivoting to mobile gaming. Holly detailed Kabam’s significant pivots and eventual success in the mobile gaming industry, particularly their hit game “Marvel Contest of Champions.” Tracy and Holly also discussed effective go-to-market strategies, highlighting the importance of analytics and consumer behavior metrics in B2C markets. Holly emphasized the value of building a solid team, possessing humility, and maintaining determination, while also discussing the different stages of company growth and the types of people suited for each stage.

40 min
MAY 29

Jin Chang, CEO, Fieldguide | The transformative role of AI

Tracy sits down with Jin Chang, CEO and co-founder of Fieldguide. They discuss Jin’s background, including his upbringing as an immigrant from South Korea and how his parents’ struggles influenced his values and work ethic. Jin shares his journey from working at Ernst & Young and founding a cryptocurrency company to co-founding FieldGuide in 2020. Fieldguide, an AI platform for CPA firms, automates tedious tasks in accounting and auditing, helping alleviate burnout and improve efficiency. Jin explains the significant talent shortage in the CPA industry and how Fieldguide addresses this by automating manual processes, such as auditing financial statements. They also discuss Fieldguide’s recent Series B funding, which will be used to enhance AI capabilities, expand into new practice areas, and increase marketing efforts. Jin emphasizes the importance of understanding customer workflows and building products that genuinely meet their needs, a lesson he learned from his previous experience at Atrium. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities in the accounting industry and the role of AI in transforming traditional workflows.

30 min
MAY 8

Taylor Young, CSO, CoLab | Engineering Collaboration: Bridging Gaps in Manufacturing

Tracy sits down with Taylor Young, Chief Strategy Officer at CoLab Software. They discuss Taylor's experience at CoLab, a company that develops collaboration software for the manufacturing industry, helping teams work on 3D designs and other complex mechanical projects. Taylor shares insights into the origins and impact of CoLab, highlighting how it fills a critical gap in collaboration tools for the manufacturing sector. The discussion also covers Taylor's childhood in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she grew up in an entrepreneurial family, which influenced her career path and values. Significant parts of the conversation delve into how CoLab is adapting to advancements in AI and the importance of review processes in AI-assisted environments. Taylor emphasizes the evolution of CoLab’s team culture, the strategic hiring practices, and the company's hybrid remote work model, which combines the benefits of remote work with occasional in-person interactions. Overall, the episode paints a detailed picture of Taylor's journey with CoLab, the company's innovative approach to collaboration in manufacturing, and the broader implications of their work on the industry and workplace culture. Key Takeaways Innovative Collaboration Tools for Manufacturing: Taylor discusses how CoLab developed much-needed collaboration software for the manufacturing industry, enabling teams to efficiently work together on complex 3D designs and mechanical projects. This innovation addresses a longstanding gap in the industry, providing tools that were absent but necessary for modern manufacturing processes. Adaptation to AI and Strategic Growth: Taylor elaborates on how CoLab is adapting to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, using AI to enhance their software capabilities. She emphasizes the strategic importance of review processes in AI-assisted environments and discusses the company's growth and scaling strategies, highlighting the role of AI in shaping the future of work. Remote Work and Company Culture: The conversation also covers CoLab’s remote-first approach and the hybrid model they use, blending remote work with biannual in-person team weeks in Newfoundland. Taylor reflects on the significance of company culture, noting how CoLab has adapted its culture and values as the company has grown, stressing the importance of maintaining a strong alignment between company values and its leadership.

44 min

Great show

Jun 25

shotsy

Interesting and thoughtful conversations.

Every great leader has a story to tell. TigerEye’s Path to Growth podcast is where leaders in B2B sales, marketing and customer success share their story. Each episode is a thirty minute masterclass in GTM covering leadership, strategy and growth in challenging markets.

Creator

Tracy Young
Years Active

2023 - 2024
Episodes

18
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2023
Show Website

Path to Growth: Conversations with Leaders on Go-To-Market

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